Over the last week, the gloves have come off in the euro zone as Ireland was battered into submission and pushed into EU-IMF receivership against its will.

As elected Irish politicians insisted that there were no negotiations, European central bankers, who have put £111 billion into Ireland’s banks, briefed that the small country’s refusal to accept a bailout was damaging the euro.

Markets reacted and Ireland’s political class was humiliated. Within a week the EU-IMF officials were ensconced in the Irish central bank and finance ministry joking about an “Oliver Cromwell package” to cut spending and jack up taxes.

What happened to sovereignty? What of Ireland’s independence? What about Easter 1916 and all that? All are questions that many are asking in Ireland.